Russia Using Nazi-Era Weapons As Arsenal Runs Thin In Ukraine War: Report

Last Updated:September 18, 2025, 21:32 IST

Ukraine’s Major Oleh Shyriaiev said that Russia’s reliance on outdated technology was not unusual.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Russia has reportedly begun deploying Nazi-era weapons in its war against Ukraine as its military stockpiles dwindle and the Kremlin scrambles to replenish its arsenal. Ukraine’s “Tur” reconnaissance unit said it discovered cone-shaped Nazi detonators, marked with swastikas and stamped 1934, in a Russian depot.

“Nazi weapons are still being used to kill people. The Hitler and Stalin regimes are gone, but the Putin regime has replaced them; the names differ, but the essence remains the same,” the unit said, according to the New York Post.

WWII Weapons On Battlefield

Ukraine’s Major Oleh Shyriaiev told the outlet that Russia’s reliance on outdated technology was not unusual.

“We have seen many times that Russia has been using equipment from the times of the Second World War,” he said. Ukrainian authorities said the detonators likely date back to agreements between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 and 1940, when the USSR received military equipment from Berlin. The devices are believed to have been kept in Russian depots since then.

Oleh Shyriaiev added that Russian troops had even deployed bolt-action Mosin-Nagant rifles – weapons developed in the late 19th century and predating the AK-47 by decades- which had been taken from military museums.

US Special Presidential Envoy Keith noted Russia’s growing reliance on antiquated hardware, saying, “[Russia is] pulling tanks out of mothballs, out of museums, to put on the battle line. They can’t operate in large movements because the Ukrainians will kill them. And Ukrainians are fighting valiantly on there.”

Oleh Shyriaiev also said that Russia has mounted World War II-era naval guns on trailers and tried to refurbish early-model infantry fighting vehicles pulled from storage.

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